Credit: Photo taken at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Millions of years before sabertooth cats, they independently evolved the same combination of dagger teeth and robust arm bones. The Barbourofelidae are an extinct family of catlike carnivores with impressive upper canines. The results suggest that these animals may have relied on their forelimbs to help catch and kill their prey without fracturing their fangs. "Thick, robust bones are an indicator of forelimb strength," Meachen said. In previous results published in 2010, Meachen reported that the saber-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis had exceptionally thick arm bones when compared with its feline cousins. In contrast, the elongated canines of saber-toothed cats were flattened side-to-side and were more oval, which made them more vulnerable to fracture. "That comes in handy for hunting-their teeth are better able to withstand the stress and strain of struggling prey without breaking." "Cats now have canines that are short and round in cross-section, so they can withstand forces in all directions," Meachen said. The long, thin teeth of saber-toothed cats look formidable, but they're fragile compared with those of felines today. "It was the combination, rather than any single trait, that allowed a diverse group of organisms to thrive as predators." "In this case, the key to being an efficient predator integrated canines and forelimbs across different groups of felids and led to the development of different combinations of these traits," said Twombly. "This is a nice demonstration that selection usually operates on suites of traits to generate solutions to environmental challenges," said Saran Twombly, program director in NSF's Directorate for Biological Sciences, which funds NESCent. The extinct saber-toothed cat, among the largest cats ever to live, roamed North and South America.
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